The Passion of Christ

Dennis Prager thinks that Jews and Christians sitting in the movie theatre will see two different movies. I think that secularists with no context for understanding what they are watching will see a third. The reviews indicate will indicate this.

I have been mute since seeing the movie last night. I'm still processing it. I was very deeply moved, but the movie went beyone visceral and emotional response to something else. I am thinking about it.

More later.

Repent - Return to God.

I feel the imminent approach of a huge battle in the culture. Ted Nugent thinks it is a tooth, fang and claw matter. I don't. It is much, much more.

It is time once again for repentance, for the return to life in Christ. God is moving to establish a more active presence in our culture. The collective consciousness of the approaching battle is quickened by films: The Star Wars trilogy, The Matrix trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring trilogy, Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. The first four mentioned have been prophetic, preparing the way for the last. They have enlivened a space in the culture in order to allow the people to hear the message of the Passion of the Christ at a deep level.

The clash between the secular and the traditionalists is obvious to many. Last night even Bill Oreilly noted it. He stated that the civil disobedience of the mayor of San Francisco regarding the marriage of gays was a direct parallel to the civil disobedience of Alabama Judge Roy Moore. The difference seems to be that ignoring the rule of law, not as a last resort but as a matter of personal preference, as expressed in San Francisco by their mayor is terminal. The country is divided by two starkly different instances of civil disobedience. One is in defiance of the California initiative, supported by 65% of California voters, to honor the tradition of marriage between one man and one woman. The other is Judge Moore's refusal to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments when ordered to do so by the State Supreme Court. Judge Moore appealed to a higher law, that of God. The San Francisco mayor also appealed to a "higher" law, his own sense of what was fair.

The battle is joined. There is some dissaray right now because there are neither overt and defined command and control structures, nor are there adequate leaders, yet. The church, as reported by the media, is so far silent in the mass media. Politicians are also mute. However, the Holy Spirit is rising rapidly into the open to provoke everyone to choose sides. Secular church members will join their irreligious brothers and sisters in support of this "fairness" issue and I believe that they will dissipate. The faithful must now come together and strengthen each other. We need to tell the culture where we are and offer sanctuary in evil times.

Gird your loins, Church of the Epiphany. Hold high the light of Christ that shines in the darkness from the sanctuary at 1st and Colorado Boulevard. The times need our passion and our strength. God help us.

Ted Nugent Interview

http://clashradio.com/main.html

Go here and listen. Caution. The mp3 clip here is a testosterone drenched Christianity zone.

Gird Up Your Loins

I Peter 1:13
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(Whole Chapter: 1 Peter 1 In context: 1 Peter 1:12-14)

I Kings 18:46
Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
(Whole Chapter: 1 Kings 18 In context: 1 Kings 18:45-47)

1 Peter 1
12To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us[1] they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into.


Living Before God Our Father
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

1 Kings 18
45Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Education is from latin roots. It means "the act of leading out". Kind of an unfolding, as I see it. If it proceeds to maturity, it leads to a full flowering of understanding and wisdom in a subject area. The good educator "leads out" the expression of the student. Good coaching works this way, the coach "leading out" the talent and skill of the athlete. Math, for another example, may be expressed by the teacher in the classroom or in a text book, but it is "lead out" through the end of a pencil as the student expresses the truth of it by applying it.

Religious education, in my experience, is often superficial and arrested; it is insufficiently "led out". Knowledge and understanding of primary sources (scripture), built upon the bible stories of childhood and a distantly remembered catechism is often faintly held in our consciousness. The worship liturgy and the preaching we hear are able to provide an ongoing source of broadening and deepening of our religious education, but how could these passive activities "lead out" our own expression of the truth of it? Proper leading out closes the loop of experience through expression. We need to speak out or at least act out the knowledge we receive. Just as athletic coaching and good practice leads to muscle memory and then good athletic performance; and, just as mathematical drill leads to facility in problem solving and then practical solutions in life, speaking out our faith forms a deepened impression in our minds and hearts and etches into our selves the truth. We are changed and now able to function more fully as a member of the Body of Christ.

By giving testimony to our faith and its precepts, we close the loop of education and exercise the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us. We hear the word through preaching and worship, but we must internalize it, interact with it and speak it out. In so doing, we deliver the depth of our knowledge of the gospel to others while deepening our own faith.

All glory to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The cultural disintegration we experience around us is a transitional phase to new stasis in our spiritual evolution. Secular experimentation has been a fad. Its failures will set the stage for new life in Christ. Everything old is new again.

Passionate men are needed now. It is time to gird our loins for the battle of phase transition. We must become the change agents predicted by Solzhenitsyn to create a "spiritual blaze" to pull us through the times of confusion into a new time of appreciation for the Glory of God.

Come Holy Spirit. Lead us.